The road less taken
by way of life
Summary: Death is annoyed at an Asgardian for all the dead that he had been sending to Death's realm before their time. And Death lets his annoyance show. Master of Death Harry! Powerful Harry! Dark-ish Harry! And now a two-shot on popular demand!
1. When it all came to a halt!

A/N: I do not own either Harry Potter or Avengers. No money is being made from this.

Also, this story is somewhat similar to to Deux Ex Machine by Plot Bunny Whisperer, though it is drastically different from hers in execution. Hope you all enjoy it.

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He wanted to massage his forehead, he really did. The headache that had been pounding against his skull was bad enough, but now he had to negotiate with the Midgardians about his brother's punishment, which was turning into more and more of an annoyance with every passing second.

He didn't understand, he really didn't, just why Nick son of Fury, was so adamant that his brother be punished on Midgard rather than on his home planet, on Asgard. Loki was, after all, a citizen of Asgard, not of Midgard.

He let a long sigh escape him when the dark skinned Midgardian began repeating his previous arguments. Yes, he knew his brother had done bad things. Yes, it was due to his brother that many had died an early death. Yes, his brother was the reason that property worth millions had been destroyed. And yes, he agreed that his brother should be punished.

But his brother should be punished on Asgard, as was proper and as All-Father had commanded. Even though it might not be through blood but Loki was All-Father's son, just like him. And it did not matter what his birth was, All-Father had taken him in and had raised him as his own and he himself had always regarded Loki as his brother.

He agreed that Loki was being a bit difficult now, but he was sure after this rebellious phrase will pass and Loki will come back to them. Loki was, after all, family. And family always sticks together, through thick and through thin.

With that in mind, Thor Son of Odin, began negotiating again –though it was more like haggling- with Nick son of Fury, about the fate of his brother.

It was subtle, very very subtle, the way it began. He didn't even see it until it was late, way too late; even though he –and every Asgardian worth their salt- knew just what it was. But as stated earlier, it was way too subtle for the Asgardian to recognize it.

It had, after all, begun very slowly, building up from the very scratch, creeping up on the unsuspecting populace of the massive flying ship, the group that was known as Avengers.

As such, it was not until the Man of Iron taunted Son of Fury about it that he noticed it. And he was ashamed to admit that he would not have noticed it even then, had it not been for the exact wording the man's statement. "What's with the all the chill Director?" The man of Iron asked with his eyebrows raised, "Trying to intimidate Thor with all this gloom and doom?" The man had said with lips quirked in a smirk.

Son of Fury had scowled at the Man of Iron for a moment, before he frowned rather heavily. "What had happened to the temperature control here?" The dark skinned Midgardian had asked as he had pressed his hands against his ear; _'microphone'_, Thor remembered.

The human on the other side must have said something as the son of Fury retorted, "It's not fine here Agent!" Son of Fury had snapped in the device and the Midgardian on the other side said something to which Son of Fury replied rather angrily, "Then your control system is not working properly. I see my own breath out here."

And now that the Son of Fury mentioned it, he could indeed see his own breath. But Thor was sure, that that hadn't been the case just a moment ago. And if it was cold enough that they could see their own breaths, then why was his metal chair not cold or the metal desk on which he was resting his hands not cold to touch.

Frowning, Thor looked around and found that everyone was in the similar condition. They were all frowning at the cold and were letting out a stream of white fog with every breath.

Thor's frown deepened and he again looked around the room, searching for the reason of the Man of Iron's comment about the gloom and doom. And indeed the man of iron had not been wrong. The shadows in the room seemed longer somehow, darker somehow. The colors too seemed dulled, as if they had rejected the light and the light itself seemed fade away, as if shying away from something.

Both of Thor's eyebrows got lost in his hairline as he remembered that the current situation, resembled a situation, a situation that was from a tale that he had heard when he had come across a statue of a screaming man in Asgard. It was a tale that every Asgardian was told, in hopes that they would never commit the same mistake that the screaming man had made.

The mistake, that they should never ever cross that being. Because nothing was so monstrous, so horrendous as the being described in those tales. It was a tale of a being so merciless and so unforgiving, that none of Asgardians wished to cross him, even by mistake.

In the entire history of Asgard, only one Asgardian had dared to cross that being and his fate had been so horrifying, so heart wrenching, that the All-Father had commissioned that statue –the statue of the screaming man- to serve as reminder to him and to the future generations. So as to see it and remember, remember to never cross that being.

The air in the room thickened as fog began to materialize, sticking to the floor but still slowly rising. The fog swirled and moved and swirled again and Thor's blood ran cold. The being was here.

Nick, Son of Fury, seemed to have noticed his reaction and the dark skinned man barked at him, "What is happening Thor!?" The man had thundered, "What do you know?" The man growled behind clenched teeth.

Knowing that panicking would do him no good, Thor closed his eyes as he took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. He opened his eyes and saw that every eye in the room was focused on him, watching him, observing him. "Someone's coming..." Thor announced unceremoniously, after all, how else he could announce the arrival of that being. "...And you all behave." He said eyeing the Man of iron for a moment. "This being is not to be trifled with."

"I will fucking behave as I like on my damn ship!" The one eyed man growled coldly and snapped, "Who's coming uninvited to my ship?"

"You will behave Midgardian." Thor, who was generally calm, snapped at the stubborn master spy. "This being can… no, not can, this being will kill you with a single thought."

Nick, son of Fury, was silenced in astonishment as the calm Asgardian snapped at him, but recovered within a moment and growled, "Who is this being?"

Whatever the god of thunder was about to say was cut off as a sound of a pair of footsteps and the sound of a cane stepping on the floor was heard from amongst the swirling fog. Thor stood up abruptly, his body tense. "No matter what...," He warned his companions "Do. not. attack. him."

But his warning seemed to have fallen on deaf ears, as every shield member trained their guns on the approaching figure, ready to shoot at a moment's notice.

As the fog seemed to part, a figure seemed to materialize through it. The being that had appeared, looked like any other human or Asgardian for that matter. His hair was dark, black as sky and seemed untamable and wild, as wild and untamable as typhoons, tornados and tsunamis combined.

But as wild as his hair was, it was nothing compared to his eyes. The dark green orbs were cold as ice or perhaps colder still. Their darkness stretched and stretched with no end in sight, they were unforgiving in their judgment and merciless in their punishment. These were the eyes that didn't hesitate to kill.

But besides those features, it was his age that was glaringly obvious. The newcomer was a teen of all things, barely 17 year of human age. And though the teenager had worn a business suit and had a cane in his hands –in a very, very British style- but it didn't hide the fact the newcomer was a teenager.

The new arrival gave everyone a once over and he didn't seemed to appear impressed. The man snapped his fingers and instantly all the guns that were pointed at him turned into snakes. The men panicked, and why wouldn't they? After all, their trusted weapons had turned into poisonous green snakes.

Nick hissed in anger and took out his other gun and pointed at the man but before he could do any more than that, the man flicked his finger and Nick went flying into the wall.

Seeing Nick flying without wings seemed to have stilled the group and the already tense group tensed further but when Nick ordered to stand down –which was done after receiving a glare from Thor- they relaxed a little bit.

Unconcerned about the tension in the room, the newcomer snapped his fingers again, causing the people in the room to tense further.

The sound of the snap had yet to die when Loki was suddenly thrown on the floor, causing the rest of the room to boil with tension; after all, this was the man that was the sole reason for the hundreds of deaths that had occurred over the world in the past few days.

The unknown man turned towards Thor as he waved his hand unceremoniously towards Loki, causing the fog to swirl and race towards the trickster. As it raced towards Loki and touched the Asgardian, the fog seemed to criticize and solidify, covering the man up and rendering him unable to move; effectively trapping the man in a grave of ice.

The newcomer then tried to sit on air and the fog this time raced towards him, snaking around the newcomer's body and wrapping itself around him. But this time instead of solidifying on the man's body, it began to solidify beneath him, forming a prefect crystallized throne of Ice.

Thor eyed his brother tensely; this was not good, not good at all. The new comer on the other hand, ignored his prisoner as he addressed the God of Thunder, "Is there a reason," He asked the free Asgardian, his voice smooth and calm, as if talking about the weather outside, "that without my permission, there has been a sudden increase in the number of Midgardins arriving in my realm?"

Thor tried to speak, but was cut off by the newcomer, "I don't remember sanctioning any catastrophe on midgard." The newcomer continued as if the god of thunder had not tried to speak at all, "No, I would remember that if I would, wouldn't I?" The newcomer mused absentmindedly.

"God complex enough kid?" Tony Stark asked condescendingly. Well, it might seem foolish for someone to say such a thing, especially when they had been warned by Thor previously, but the thing was that Tony Stark was a man who had faced much in his life –after all, he and some others had just defeated an entire army of aliens- and as such was afraid of even less things.

The newcomer glanced once at Tony and the man began to choke on his own spit. He tried to breathe as he scratched his neck, but it was all to no avail.

"I apologize on his behalf!" Thor said hastily to the newcomer, "He doesn't know who you are."

The newcomer eyed Thor for a moment, a moment in which Tony Stark continued to choke, before ending his hold over the man without even giving the man a single glance.

"Who are you?" It was Natasha who found her voice first. She had, after all, been in many life threatening situations and had an experience in the field.

Thor was the first to answer as he replied quickly, "Death." The god said, "He's Death."

The newcomer -apparently Death- raised an eyebrow at that before asking, "Has Odin not revealed to you my name child?" None missed the moniker of 'child' that was awarded to Thor, and with Thor being as old as he was, it set everyone on edge. According to them -and they were right to assume- either this new character was monstrously powerful or was simply insane to call a grown Asgardian 'child'.

Thor gulped. All-Father had indeed revealed the newcomer's name to him but that name was so simple, so ordinary that it didn't seem to fit the persona that was the newcomer. The moniker 'Death' suited him much better.

"He did." Thor answered and the newcomer kept his eyebrow raised, waiting for the god to speak his name. Thor gulped again and answered, "Harry Potter."

The newcomer nodded before continuing, "Now that it is out of the way," Harry said nonchalantly, "Can you explain, why this pathetic creature," He pointed towards Loki, who was lying on the floor, "was allowed to kill so many?"

"Why you ignorant-" That was all Loki could get out of his mouth before he broke into blood curling screams. Harry remained nonchalant as ever while the rest of the mortals –humans and Asgardian combined- flinched at the sound.

Blood began to trickle out of the tricksters eyes as he cried tears of blood. Thor couldn't take it anymore and begged on behalf of his brother, "Please!" The god of thunder said, "Please stop!"

And Harry did stop. It seemed he had some other plans for the trickster than torturing him to death. "I did tell Odin." Harry continued as if he hadn't just tortured someone, "Frost giants could not be civilized. It's bad blood you see. But he wouldn't listen to me." Harry spoke, his voice as calm as ever, "No, he wanted to give this creature a chance. Huh! It didn't end very well, now did it?"

Though the words had been spoken calmly, but they couldn't have been any more biting and Thor flinched, he could see where Death was going with this and he did not like it. Deciding to be straight forward about it, he asked, "Why are you here?"

"Ah that." Harry said calmly as if he had just remembered something that he had previously forgotten, "You see I was training someone, someone very special. And this pathetic excuse of Life killed him." He told the Asgardian. The truth was that the he had been training someone to take my place and relieve him of his duty. And Loki had killed the man. "I am here to take this creature with me. His actions need… a personal touch from my part."

Loki's blood ran cold and so did Thor's along with everyone present in the room. "Y-you c-can't kill me." Loki stuttered. "I am p-prince of Asgard."

For the first time, Harry turned to look towards his prisoner and raised an eyebrow, "Kill you?" He asked incredulously, "Why will I do such a thing?" He asked innocently, though the malicious meaning behind those words was heard loud and clear.

"Then what will you do with him?" It was Bruce Banner that asked the question.

Harry turned to look at the man and tilted his head in observation, "There are worse things that Death Dr. Banner." He answered offhandedly, "You, more than anyone, should know that." Bruce flinched.

"I request you to let him be tried in Asgard." Thor said with more conviction in his voice than before. "My father will deal with him appropriately."

Harry stared at Thor for a moment –thinking something- and glanced at Loki briefly, the trickster whimpered beneath Harry's gaze, "This thing is whimpering already." He said calmly but to everyone who was listening, the sneer was quiet visible in the voice, "And I haven't even begun yet."

"You haven't even begun yet?" Stark asked incredulously, speaking before he could think who he was talking to, "You fucking reduced him to bloody tears."

Harry glanced at Stark and the man tensed. He raised an eyebrow, as if asking, _'You want another round idiot?'_

Stark flinched and fell silent.

"But I suppose," Harry continued as he turned back to the whimpering mass that was Loki, "Dealing with him would be more trouble than necessary." It seemed that Harry had plans for Loki, or else he wouldn't have let the matter rest so easily.

Thor sighed in relief but when he saw Harry reaching for his brother, he panicked. He knew that this man, this Harry Potter, had cursed the man in whose remembrance the screaming statue was made by placing his finger on the forehead and as such he asked hastily, "What are you doing?"

Harry paused and turned to look at Thor with an eyebrow raised, "He's quiet power hungry, isn't he?" He asked calmly, "I was just satisfying his hunger."

Thor's blood froze at those words. He knew just what Harry was talking about. It was the curse of Eternal Hunger. The man that Harry had cursed with this curse before was none other than the man whose fate had shaken the entire Asgard. The man's whose fate had forced the All-Father to commission the statue of the screaming man.

This horrifying curse that Harry had placed on the asgardian had been one of the most inhumane thing that had ever been witnessed anywhere in the nine realms. The man that Harry had cursed had been quite power hungry and he had attacked Harry in hopes of obtaining his power. Harry had cursed him such, that the man from then on, couldn't eat anything except his own flesh.

But that was not all he did, no, Harry had cursed the man by the power of the sun and the moon. By the day, when the sun rose, the man felt a hunger so great for his own flesh that no chain or binding would stop him, and as such, he devoured his own body, eating himself bit by bit, unaware of any pain and suffering except the cursed hunger.

And when the night came, and the moon travelled across the sky, his body would begin to heal. The flesh that he had eaten in the day would re-grow, replacing the wounds. But it was not a peaceful process, no, the re-growing of flesh was painful, as his flesh burned and melted to give way to the new flesh and skin. The man's blood curling screams of agony had resonated across all of Asgard.

If that had been enough, then too it would not have been such a horrendous punishment, no, Harry had again gone beyond that. When the All-Father had taken pity on the man and had ordered his execution, the man had proved to be un-killable, they had tried many things but everything resulted in the same result; the man lived. Harry had refused the soul final asylum. Harry had refused the man, his death.

All-Father had to ask Harry to grant the man Death, for Harry would have let his punishment go for all eternity.

As such, one can understand why Thor's blood froze at the news. "Please...," He asked Harry in a pained and horrified voice, "I will demand Father for the strictest punishment! I will call for the most hideous punishment of Asgard for him! But please, please do not curse him!"

Harry frowned, for the first time showing any reaction, "I cannot let him go unpunished."

"Please...," Thor asked again, his voice terrified for his brother, "Please do not curse him with Eternal Hunger."

All the humans stared at Thor, as the once mighty god turned into a terrified mortal, in front of this Harry Potter. They knew that Thor had said that this Harry Potter was Death, but they had –like any rational being- had not believed such fanciful claims.

Harry smiled slightly, a very innocent smile, "I appreciate your love for your brother, child," Harry told the asgardian, "But I am not known for mercy."

Thor's heart sank; his brother would be condemned to something he wouldn't even wish on his worst enemies. "I'll do anything, anything at all." Thor told the man, "But please, please do not curse him with Eternal Hunger."

Harry frowned and thought on the offer for a moment -while the rest of the room waited with bated breath, even though they did not know what Eternal Hunger was, but by the way Thor was pleading, it was something to be afraid of- before replying, "I shall not curse him with Eternal Hunger, but curse him I shall." Harry told the god, "And you will be in my Debt. Crown Prince Thor."

Thor sighed in defeat; he knew it was the best he would get. "Thank you," Was all he managed to say out loud.

Harry turned towards Loki, who was sniveling and whimpering on the floor from the torture he had received earlier, "You should be grateful of your brother and your father, trickster." Harry told the god of mischief, "He and you, both of you don't know what it means to be in my debt."

With that ominous warning, Harry placed a finger at Loki's forehead and spoke, "Loki son of Laufey, son of Odin," He announced, "The men, women and children that died at your hand, still had long lives to live. The life lost by them, will also be lost by you." At his words, Loki visibly seemed to age in front of them. And given the fact that, Asgardians lived for thousands of years, it was a testament of the number of people killed by Loki that he was losing enough age that it was visible.

Where previously Loki had looked to be in his late 20's, now the Asgardian looked as if he was in his mid forties. Such was the number of years he had lost to the Death's curse.

But Harry was not done, not by long shot. "From this day forth and until you visit my real, you shall suffer the last day of every victim whose death you were directly or indirectly responsible for. You'll feel their emotions; their joy, their happiness; their pain and their end. You shall live it as they had lived and die as they had died."

His curse now complete, Harry lifted his finger and turned towards Thor, "Remind your father," Harry spoke to the god of thunder, "Not to meddle with my vision again. Else he might visit me sooner than he'd prefer." Harry threatened the Asgardian, knowing that his warning will be relayed to the Asgard's All-Father. The man had been messing with his vision, hiding Loki's antics from him, but the All-Father had forgotten, that nothing is hidden from death.

With that last warning, Harry Potter dissolved into a shower of snow and Ice.

Silence stretched for quite some moments before Stark broke it, "Well," Tony said, after a moment, trying to sum it all up, "That happened."

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A/N: So, there's that. This was an idea that was nagging me like crazy and just didn't want to leave me alone. So, I decided to write this oneshot. But if anyone wants to continue it or adopt it, they can, just PM me beforehand. As you might have noticed, I have left many openings to exploit.

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	2. Odin's Defiance

A/N: I would also like to say thank you and that I loved all the reviews that you people gave me, whether good or bad –though the number of good ones outshined the bad- and as such, I decided to honor it by writing this chapter.

Thus back by very popular demand, this chapter is the product of rereading all my reviews. I would especially like to thank CHRIS7100, on whose review this particular chapter is based.

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Odin frowned, for he had a reason to.

It didn't get cold here in Asgard, it never did; yet, all of a sudden, there was a chill in the air. Then there was also the fact that he was currently in his throne room -a place that had its temperature always regulated, to a pleasant lukewarm, to suite his aging body- as such, there should have been no variation in temperature; no matter what.

But alone as he was, mourning the death of his dear wife, he let it slide. He had much more important things to think about that some minor temperature change.

Though his brooding abruptly turned into alarm, when fog began materializing out of thin air and the temperature declined steeply. Though alarm did not last long –he was Odin the All-Father after all- before it turned into grim determination of defiance.

He would not be cowed and told what to do; not when he was trying to save his son who had been punished more harshly than he actually deserved.

As such, when the echo of footsteps and cane resounded across the throne room, a cold calculating defiance settled on the ancient Asgardian's face. But even in his defiance, he did not call for his people to gaurd him; for he loved his people, his realm and he knew that they would serve no purpose other than increasing the body count at the end of the day.

The fog finally parted, revealing a boy –for that was what he looked like, a teenage boy- dressed in a nice black suite, with a predatory smile plastered on his face.

"Odin," The boy called pleasantly, "This rather abrupt arrival of mine," He said as he surveyed his surrounding, "I hope isn't an… inconvenience."

Odin, for all his defiance, gulped slightly. He had been ready to face an indifferent Harry Potter, a bored Harry Potter, or even an angry Harry Potter; for these had been the moods that he had seen previously on the death incarnate and knew how to deal with.

But he was, not at all, prepared for a Harry Potter who grinned maniacally with unholy glee lurking in his eyes.

However before Odin could say anything, Harry continued, "But then again… you had to know I was coming," He said as if he did not want an answer from the Asgard's All-Father at all, "After all, you defied my warning –something which I was very clear about- and continued to meddle with my vision." Harry finished as he sat down on the icy throne that had been shaped out of the swirling fog, mist and snow; a throne much grander then the All-Father's.

At that reminder, the grim determination descended again on the All-Father and –again- before the old Asgardian could speak, Harry whispered to himself, "…Interesting."

Odin ignored the whispered words and spoke with a conviction that was matched only by a cornered prey, "No one orders the All-Father of Asgard."

An amused smile wormed its way on Harry's face before he spoke, "Is this where your foolish defiance stems from?" Harry asked, his voice barely containing his glee, before speaking again, "Because I could have sworn that it stemmed from your irrational thoughts of protecting your adoptive… progeny."

Odin clenched his fist at the unspoken threat before speaking again, "What are you going to do then?" He challenged the incarnation of death with condescension clearly visible in his voice, "Torture me? Kill me? The entire of Asgard will rebel against you and your realm."

Harry laughed. And he laughed like he had never laughed before; causing dread to fill the ruler of Asgard.

Though, when he finally managed to calm down, he grinned maliciously before answering the threat that Odin had made, "More the merrier…" He said gleefully.

Odin gulped. He had not accounted for this scenario; he had not expected that this Death –no, not Death; but monster- this monster would not hesitate before annihilating an entire civilization.

He had expected that this Death, this Harry Potter, to be have some humanity. Even when he had seen the monster curse of eternal hunger, he had expected humanity out of this Harry Potter; for he had only cursed when someone had tried to go against him; he had not cursed blindly.

Odin assumption, about Harry possessing Humanity, would have been correct had Odin been talking about Death when Harry had actually been alive; when Harry had been human.

But the multitude of eons through which Harry had lived; the eons in which he had seen mortals arrive in his realm with their bodies mutilated in ways that made even demons cringe; with women, girls and daughters raped to death in ways that scarred and tainted the soul in most horrible of ways that would never heal; had been the eons where Harry had lost his humanity.

And all that had been left, of the mortal wizard that had once lived, was the personification of Death and nothing more.

"Y-you will not do any such thing!" Odin finally said as he snapped out of his daze, "The favor that Thor owes you, you'll lose it otherwise." The old Asgardian managed to say as he grasped out at straws.

Harry laughed. And laughed loudly before replying, "As I told your _noble_ son," Harry answered with malice evident in his voice, "You don't know what it means to be in my debt." He answered before deciding to sweat the Old Asgardian and explain just what it meant to be in Death's debt.

"Do you really believe," Harry said with one of his eyebrows raised in question, "that I'll let that pathetic ice-giant progeny of yours go," Harry's said as his voice tuned malicious, "Because of some flimsy oath that your son gave?" Harry finally asked the All-Father with incredulity clearly visible in his voice.

Harry smiling that unholy smile of his before continuing, "My debt will be paid whether Thor wants or not." Harry answered with a grin, "His whole existence will force him to fulfill the debt, no matter how much he resists; for my magic will enforce his words."

"He will bring me the bleeding heart of his first born if I asked him to," Harry told the Asgardian as he smiled manically, "…And he will do so with a smile."

Horror descended onto the All-Father's face. Never in his dreams he had anticipated this when Thor had told him of the debt. "Y-you Monster!" Odin managed to spit out causing Harry to laugh again.

"Not monster Odin." Harry said with an innocent smile, "Death. I am Death." Harry said with a sweet smile, causing Odin to clutch his chest as a sudden pain emanated from his heart.

Odin choked and spluttered and tried to breathe one last time but it was all to no avail as Harry's magic continued to squeeze the life out of the powerful Asgardian.

Harry watched it all with apparent disinterest before finally speaking, "Death only warns once Asgardian," Harry told the dying form of the Asgard's All-Father, "The second time it takes its due."

And with that Harry dissolved into a shower of fog and snow, leaving behind the dead of body of Odin, the All-Father of Asgard.

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A/N: I hope this chapter clears a bit of Harry's OOC-ness.

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	3. Secrets revealed

A/N: What's this? An update!

Yep. I decided to write a new chapter for this series, which started as a one-shot, then turned into a two-shot, and is now a three shot; all on popular demand. I love you guys and your reviews; they force me to write more and more!

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Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The footsteps echoed in the large room as the sound bounced off of the glassy white walls; walls that were as cold as their creator and just as hard; for they were made of ice.

"Hello Coulson," The figure standing in the balcony spoke as his indifferent gaze scrutinized the vast mass of the universe, below, in boredom.

"Harry," The now named Phil Coulson, former member of the espionage agency SHIELD and now nothing more than a dead being, greeted back with a small meaningless smile as he made his way towards the personification of Death.

Looking down from the balcony, all that met the former spy's eyes was a sight of vast and endless universe of the nine realms: dark, incomprehensible, beautiful, cold and reeking of death.

Phil felt, more than saw, his companion smile as the former spy tried to study the universe, just like the Death incarnate had once taught him, and failed miserably.

"You failed me child." The teenager-esque being informed the ex-spy without mercy, without compassion, "And all the things that I had taught you…" the being continued on, with condescending amusement at the once-mortal's failed efforts clearly visible on his face, "…are now lost."

"Yes." Phil replied with his soft, insincere and false smile still plastered on his face, "You don't suffer failures."

The immortal laughed; the sound of it callous and cruel. It echoed off of the air itself and reverberated with everything that it touched. It sent shivers down the once mortal man's spine.

The, seemingly, teenager laughed at the indifferent mask of the now dead man; at his efforts to hide himself from the one single truth. It was this quality of Coulson that had always amused him; his cool indifferent mask even in most dire of situations.

"Indeed," Was all the immortal said in reply.

"It's very unusual of you, to study the realms." Phil broke the comfortable silence that had descended upon the pair, "I have been told you utterly despise the activity."

A cold smile wormed its way on the teenager's face. "You would have too, if you hadn't failed." The being answered callously, his boyish features seemingly colder that ice, "There nothing to look there but beasts. Besides," The immortal's personality changed, then, as his indifference returned with full force, "things are slow these days; now that mortals aren't killing each other."

"…You want them to kill each other?" Phil questioned he smiled his small meaningless smile.

The immortal didn't even bother to glance at the ex-spy for the inquisition. "It's the nature of the beasts to kill." The death incarnate answered; his apathy visible more visible than a splatter of blood on pure and white ice. "For all their supposed intelligence, they are nothing but mindless little things."

For the first time a frown morphed on the ex-spy's face, "Why did you punish Loki then?" The now dead man questioned, "By your views, he was merely following his nature."

The death incarnate did glace at the former member of shield then; his cold green eyes shifting towards the mortal, for a few infinitely long moments, before returning to gaze at the vast emptiness that was the universe of the nine realms.

"Do not pretend to understand me child." The teenager spoke, his voice soft but the rebuke could not have been sharper. "You are a million universes too soon for that."

"Of course," The ex-spy backtracked immediately, "I cannot even begin to fathom such a thing."

A condescending smile formed on the immortal's face at the transparent effort of flattery. "Your training at SHIELD still survives, I see."

For the first time a true smile morphed on Phil's face, "Even Death can't take away a lifetime of conditioning, it seems."

No sooner had the sentence left Coulson's lips than a chill permeated the air, "…Would you like to try?" The immortal being known as Death inquired innocently.

The cold surrounded the ex-spy then, seeping under his skin and permeating to his very bones; chilling them and freezing him. Phil felt his mouth go dry as his throat began to parch and heartbeat began to race. His stomach churned in fear and for, seemingly, no reason at all, Phil Coulson felt terror. "N..n…no," Was all the former member of SHIELD could manage.

And with that terror vanished; like a switched has been turned off the terror that had been filling him was immediately cut off. All, that was left, was the innocent face of the Death incarnate.

The immortal teenager remained silent after that, his bored eyes traversing the vast expanse of the universe with extreme indifference.

"I couldn't have care less about the failed offspring of the ice giants." For some reason, the death incarnate decided to explain his reasoning. "That being is nothing but a mere pawn." He stated as a matter of fact, "And I don't deal with pawns."

Coulson struggled with the decision: whether to prompt Harry for more information or not. His curiosity had been spiked but given the unstable nature of the immortal being, he did not want a repeat of the earlier performance. In the end, though, all of Phil's musings were for naught as the Death incarnate continued on his own, without even a word from former spy.

"It was his master that it was a message to." Harry explained absently as his face scrunched in distaste at something that only he could see in the vast universe sprawled beneath his balcony.

Coulson tried to contain his curiosity because he knew curiosity killed the cat but, in the end, he failed and inquired, "…His master?"

"Do you really believe," The immortal teen spoke with complete apathy, "that the incompetent fool of the ice giant," he scrunched his face, again, at something that only he could see, "could have done all that on his own?" The death incarnate turned to face the former spy then, "I had thought you were smarter than that child."

Thoroughly chastised like a child, Coulson hid a wince and smiled his fake smile. "I see," the ex-spy answered, "And this master would be who?"

For the first time, in a long time, a real emotion crossed Harry's face and the emotion was that of amusement. "An upstart of child." The Death incarnate said with a wistful smile, "That's who."

Coulson remained silent, not wanting to tip the fragile sanity of the immortal being.

Harry, on the other hand, continued on smiling in remembrance. "Thanos." He answered the original question, "The mad titan. He was the child that I had chosen long before you came along." The immortal answered and turned to walk back into the room. "And, just like you, he failed me."

Coulson again remained silent, deciding to let the Death Incarnate decide what to reveal and what not to. He sat down and sank into the chair as if it was made of the softest snow; which, given the immortal's obsession with all things cold and ice, it most probably was.

"But, unlike you, that child could not stomach his failure." The immortal continued on, after a moments, with his usual apathy and indifference, "And since then he has been trying to prove himself to me; destroying worlds and planets in process; all that death, nothing but a sacrifice in my name." He finished with a wistful smile.

Coulson gulped before he spoke again, "…And you let him?" He inquired.

"He keeps things lively." The death incarnate answered indifferently and without any hesitation, as if talking about the color of the sky and not about the loss of innumerous lives. "Though this time his pawn crossed the boundary; it killed you."

Coulson had surmised this much. Harry's interference and his subsequent punishment had been a direct result of his death; that much he had known.

"I warn only once." Harry continued on as he closed his eyes, "The next time I take my due."

Coulson nodded to himself. This was a lesson that he had come across again and again when the Death incarnate had been training the former spy. This he could understand; Loki's fate had nothing to do with Loki himself but had everything to do with his master. Loki's fate had been a warning to this Thanos.

Something changed at that moment as the Death incarnate slowly opened his eyes with a malicious little grin etching itself on the teenager's face. "Noble men and fools…" The boy spoke, "…they have so much in common."

Coulson raised an eyebrow. What catastrophe had befallen on someone that it had caused the Death incarnate to grin? His curiosity peaked, he asked, "…What now?"

"Your failure of an ice giant," The personification of Death answered maliciously, "…just took over Asgard. And he did so…" The teenager laughed then; a gleeful and malicious laugh, "…by pretending to be his dear dead father." The boy laughed again; its cold and heartless sound chilling Coulson to the bone.

"His father," The teenager said with a bloodthirsty grin, "that I had killed." The death incarnate continued on laughing in glee and the sheer joy, that the statement had contained, bowled over Coulson; he had not anticipated that killing Odin had meant this much to the Death Incarnate.

Of course, Coulson was wrong; Odin's death had as much significance for Harry as an amoeba's death does for a human; completely insignificant.

But what Coulson did not know, was that it was not Odin's death that had filled Harry with glee; it had been Loki's indifference to his father's death and his subsequent refusal to even give the now dead ruler of Asgard a proper funeral.

It was the malicious nature of Loki that had filled Harry with malicious joy; the truth of the ice giant race that was leaking through its progeny.

Harry grinned gleefully; the coming time would lively. It would be lively indeed.

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A/N: I was surprised at the number of people wanting Coulson to be the dead apprentice, but as I did not have any canon character planned to fill in the role and would have used an OC most probably, I decided what the hell, let's make Coulson the dead apprentice. So there!

Anyway, I don't know whether I would write anymore for this story in future but if you guys give me reviews, I just might.

So review!

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Love it?

Hate it?

Just review and let me know!


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